West Africa Regional Resources

About the Impact Center

These people were trained on several themes such as Farming God's Way, bio-digester construction, compost making, gardening, and livestock.

The ECHO West Africa Impact Center seeks to extend the services of ECHO to help those working with the poor in West Africa to be more effective, especially in the area of agriculture. Functioning primarily as a technical support organization the Impact Center is helping community development organizations and workers operate more effectively.

ECHO's training focuses not only on agriculture, but on improving the living conditions of small-scale farmers, and we are interested in agriculture, health, food, environment, Income, etc. Our trainings are very practical and at the end of each session each participant is able to practice what he has learned and to train others.

Following the training campaign comes the period of follow-ups and evaluations. Our training teams traveled to almost all the localities where they gave training to follow up on the implementation of the techniques taught. So, for example, Bobo, Kouka, Solenzo, Bomboila, Koran, Dedougou, Djibo, Kayibo, Laye, Leo, Ourbono, Siby, Dakoro, Sanekui, Toma, and Tougan were followed and accompanied in the application of the various techniques taught By ECHO.

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West Africa Updates

Member Profile: Mr. Karim Soré 2018-03-06

Mr. Karim Soré works as a facilitator with AZN (Association of Zooram Nongtaaba) in Guié, and lives in the village of Goèma, located in the province of Sanematenga. Karim works with a small group of farmers who do not readily embrace change when it comes to the way in which they have always practiced agriculture. Because of this, Karim decided to demonstrate the Foundations For Farming (FFF) technique in the field that the village had given him. Because he was an outsider, the land that Karim received was viewed as undesirable by the village due to its depleted soil. He knew that a successful application of this new farming technique would make a powerful statement if, in spite of the impoverished soils, he was able to produce a decent crop yield.

The villagers quickly observed that in spite of the limited and unpredictable rains during the rainy season and especially with the additional challenge of trying to grow crops on this undesirable land, Karim’s field appeared to maintain a healthy moisture level even during a 10-day spell without rain. Ironically at harvest time the yield from this poor piece of land shocked everyone because it surpassed the crop yield levels of the entire village. The results spoke for themselves and won over the villagers who are now convinced of the effectiveness of the FFF technique. They approached Karim and requested that he show them how FFF works. To date Karim has trained a total of 110 people in the village.

About West Africa

"West Africa is a highly diverse region in terms of agro-climatic conditions and agricultural production potential, as well as with respect to the distribution of vulnerable populations. In general, the northern regions of coastal countries and the landlocked Sahelian countries are relatively food insecure and impoverished. Additionally, rapid urbanization in the region is leading to increasing numbers of urban poor. The population in this region is expected to grow 100 percent between 2010 and 2050, compared to the global growth rate of 38 percent. Population growth combined with low increases in productivity could further tighten resources and increase food insecurity.

Chronic undernutrition and food availability are core challenges to food security in West Africa. Critical gender concerns related to food security include the inability of women to hold on to land and to make decisions regarding household expenditure and consumption, as well as women having less capital than men.

There is ample evidence that the agriculture sector—which accounts for 35 percent of West African gross domestic product and 15.3 percent of regional export earnings—and in particular food staples, is the best engine for generating sustained, rapid and pro-poor economic growth." - Feed The Future

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ECHOcommunity.org is the online collaborative membership community of ECHO, an international nonprofit organization. ECHO exists to reduce hunger and improve lives through agricultural training and resources. Working through regional impact centers around the world ECHO connects small-scale farmers, and those working to eliminate world hunger, with essential resources, and each other. These resources include a vast knowledgebase of practical information, experienced technical support and an extensive seed bank focused on highly beneficial underutilized plants.